4.23.2012

how to build a gutter garden

Yesterday we replanted our gutter garden on our back porch. It's been barren the last two years, but Stella and I are renewing our commitment and discipline to care for it this time. As I'm writing I am just realizing that we replanted this on Earth Day. I didn't plan that, but, neat!

Here is a quick how-to on how we built our gutter garden three summers ago.

What we used:

+One 8'-0" long galvanized steel roof gutter

+Eight galvanized gutter hangers and screws

+Six galvanized end caps (three left facing, three right facing, they are not interchangeable)

+Organic exterior potting soil

+Plants and seeds

We had the gutter snipped in the store into two 3'-0" long pieces and one 2'-0" long piece. You can see why these lengths make sense given the sunlight angle on our back porch.

This is the gutter garden as it stood yesterday morning, filled with hard, depleted soil.

What we did:

+Before mounting to the wall, we drilled 5/16" drainage holes in the bottom of the gutters, spaced about 10" on center.

+Also before attaching them to the wall, we fit the caps on the ends. This can take some muscle, patience, and maybe even a hammer. The gutter ends get warped by the tin snips, so the caps don't fit on as easily as you would hope!

+Finally, we attached the gutters to the wall with the mounting hardware. You will have to drill through the back side of the gutter to position the gutter hangers, so it is easier if you have two people working on the job.

We have two major hurdles with this gutter garden. One being the obvious lack of depth for things to root. The second is our partial sun. About three-quarters of the gutters get direct sun in the morning until around noon, but a portion of the garden NEVER gets sun. I'm looking around for something I can use to reflect some light back onto the garden without driving the neighbors nuts with glare. Maybe a matte aluminum baking sheet. I'll let you know how that works out!

Isn't that funny! I really didn't realize it until in bed writing the post and heard it on the news. I wish this had been my idea! I saw a photo years and years ago and thought it was so brilliant and perfect for our limited space, we had to try it. If only we had better sun in that area. :( We'll see how it does!

Thank you, Daffy Dave! It was really nice and convenient that we had a freestanding wall to attach it to. It gets more complicated when you've got to deal with waterproofing issues on the side of a house! I'm glad you've been so moved by this concept over the last week or two, keep me posted if you build one for yourself!

ABOUT ME:

I am an architect, mother, wife and native East Coaster living in San Francisco, and the paper artist behind papel SF. My work can be seen at The Jealous Curator, Colossal, My Modern Metropolis, Apartment Therapy, and the Martha Stewart Living and Williams-Sonoma blogs, among others. Thank you for reading!

follow corner blog:

PAPEL SF

Tiny and giant works in paper. Registration open now for fall and winter workshops.

101 Donut Pan Ideas

We've thought of 101 uses for our donut pans, and we're going to make them all!